IRISH Sport Horses dominated the line-ups in both sections of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse finals, held as usual alongside the CCI5*-L Defender Burghley in Lincolnshire last week. The classes provided particularly satisfying results for breeder Gwen Kinsella, when WLS Cula Bula (KMS Rooney x Sorrento) topped the leader board at the conclusion of the five-year-old competition (80.65), while his half-brother WLS Kingston (Castlefield Kingston x Sorrento) also achieved a podium finish when third in the four-year-old equivalent (78.60).

Both horses were ridden by Kinsella’s daughter-in-law, former Burghley winner Caroline Powell (NZL), and are out of the KWPN mare Ebony AS, who also bred WLS Ravenscourt (by Cristo), fourth in the five-year-old final last year.

“Burghley was a fantastic experience all round,” said Kinsella, who was present at the event to witness the horses she bred excel. “I’m a very lucky person to have such a wonderful mare, and it’s all down to her. I knew her breeder in Holland, for whom she had already had three dressage-bred foals, and she sent her my way to see if she could breed event horses. The rest is history. She also has a yearling by Vancouver de Lanlore, and she’s back in foal to him for next year.”

British rider Kitty King finished second in the five-year-old final with another Irish Sport Horse, Parc All The Hype (Hype x Rehy High Society). The John Fitzgerald-bred gelding was judged to have good potential to gallop and earned a total score of 79.90 from the judging panel, which included the Irish-based agent and rider Nicky Roncoroni. Ros Canter featured in third with the KWPN gelding Reuben (O’Neill Van’T Eigenlo x Vigo D’Arsouilles) on 79.55, while Powell narrowly missed out on a second podium placing in fourth with Rockefeller Scais (Conthalou x Corland) on 79.40.

Six among the top 10 in this class were Irish Sport Horses, and two were ridden by Olympic gold medallist Oliver Townend. He finished sixth with the Jonathan McCann-bred mare Very Cooley (Valent x Bonnie Prince), who shares a similar pedigree to his five-star winner Cooley Rosalent, and eighth with the gelding Mystic Noir (Lagans OBOS Quality x Ringwood Harley Carol). Bred by Stephen Kelliher, the latter earned the highest mark of the class for suitability and type.

Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin ridden by Ros Canter, winners of the four-year-old section of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse final \ Peter Nixon

Four-year-olds

The top five in the four-year-old section of the Dubarry Young Event Horse final were all Irish Sport Horses, and the Catherine Jackson-bred Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin (Tyson x Casall) was judged to be the best of them in the hands of Ros Canter (see cover image). Unlike the older horses’ class, in which the standings fluctuated after each phase, here the winner earned the highest flatwork score and remained near the top of the judge’s order throughout to finish on 84.75.

Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin has already achieved an enviable list of accolades, including being runner-up in the future event horse final at the Dublin Horse Show and then returning to win the four-year-old working hunter at the RDS this time round for his owners Lauren Painter and Patrick Murray. “Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin had something special about him from the start,” says his breeder Catherine Jackson. “As a newborn, he would jump the cracks in the concrete and the weeds in the field, and he had great balance and self-carriage.”

“It was an incredibly proud moment watching one of the best riders in the world riding a horse we bred in one of the most iconic competitions for young event horses. It’s something you would wish for every horse you breed; to have the best opportunities to reach their full potential,” reflected Jackson, who watched another of her home-breds, Cooley Lafitte (formerly Kilcorig Je Taime) complete the CCI5*-L in 13th place under New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell.

British-based Irish rider Susie Berry claimed the runner-up spot with the Jimmy and Mary Fogarty-bred Longford Pass EI Quality (Lagans OBOS Quality x Ars Vivendi) on a combined score of 81.60. A perfect 10 for his potential to gallop from judge Clayton Fredericks allowed the gelding to finish ahead of the aforementioned WLS Kingston.

Oliver Townend featured again here in fourth, with another by Kieran Kennedy’s Lagans OBOS Quality, Stormbird, who was bred by Lillian Fitzgerald out of Mulberry Lass by Loughehoe Guy. They scored 77.85 to finish fractionally ahead of Hayden Hankey with MSHI Rockstar le Tot (Rock N’Roll Ter Putte x Cavalier Royale), fifth on 77.75.